sharonkaye

Booked a flight to London in June for family including three boys 21&amp;19&amp;15. We are thinking that we should probably stay in London for three days then set off for other parts of England and would also like to go to Ireland. We have 14 days. <BR>Is the only way to get from England to Ireland by plane? - No boats?<BR>Our boys LOVE to shop so hopefully they will get their fill in London also need a little night life too. What is a must see in England. My husband always insists on renting a car but I would love to include a train ride in this trip - what do you think?<BR>Thanks so much

janis

You can take a ferry to Ireland - but you would have to go to the west coast of Wales to get one.<BR><BR>A few suggestions - 3 days is probably not long enough for London. the first day is pretty tough because you will likely be jet-lagged and even if you arrive early in the morning, after clearing immigration, get into London, check in, etc you will only have about 1/2 a day to see anything. If you want to see London, some of the English countryside and a small part of Ireland in 14 days think about one of these two options.<BR><BR>stay 4 or 5 days in London, then rent a car and travel around (the Cotswolds, or Kent or along the south coast) for 4 days. Return the car and fly to either Dublin or Cork and spend 4 days driving around SW Ireland. Fly back to London to catch your flight home.<BR><BR>Or, Assuming you are flying int LHR - upon arrival pick up a car and head west taking 4 days to go through Bath, the Cotswolds and on to N Wales. Drop off the car at Holyhead (Wales) and take a ferry to Ireland. Pick up another car and travel around 4 or 5 days, then fly back to London for the last 5 days before flying home.

elaine

Hi<BR>My friend and I once arrived at Heathrow and jumped into our rental car and drove to Oxford. I recommend against that. Even if you are all excellent drivers, you will arrive having had little sleep, and you need to learn driving on the left side right away, plus negotiating roundabouts (traffic circles) and such.<BR><BR>I&quot;d say spend at least 5-7 of your days in London, perhaps more if you want to daytrip (easily) to such nearby places as Bath, Oxford, Cambridge, Windsor Castle, Hampton Court, etc etc.

aurelia

If you are interested in history (and shopping) I would suggest you divide your time between London (see the tower, the crown jewels, the EYE, etc) and then go to Dublin for a different slant. As you know, the Irish are not fond of the English (more history) and Dublin is a wonderful town for kids...

rickmav

I think Janis' suggestions are great. The only thing I begrudge about spending so much time in London, however, is that I end up spending twice there what I do anywhere else (Ireland included) particularly on food and lodging. Having been there many times, we now stay on the outskirts and train in. But depends on your budget and the kinds of things that your kids would like to see. It certainly is an exciting place, which might appeal to young men, particularly the theatre district in the evening.<BR><BR>I do think you should venture outside of London, however. It's just to magical to miss. And we've never taken a shine to Dublin - although we love the rest of Ireland. <BR><BR>If you take the ferry from Holyhead (North Wales is spectacular, particularly if you like to hike, gardens, etc.) you can always pick up a car there and drive south to County Wicklow. It's quite beautiful (I think they filmed part of Braveheart here), as well, Ballykissangel. We stayed at a B&amp;B in Avoca called Glendale House, which I would heartily recommend, and the great thing is they have lots of rooms so you could all fit in nicely.<BR><BR>My favourite things in London: British Museum, National Portrait Gallery, The Old Bailey (the British court), the Imperial Warm Museum, the theatre, and all the parks. The walks are quite popular and the Jack the Ripper walk lets you stop at a few pubs along the way (or at least ours did - maybe they were catering the clientele).<BR><BR>If you want more suggestions re: Kent or Cotswolds let me know. There's also lots of great info. on this site, as you probably have already discovered.